Hidden Candles
by sportielle
Summary: Medical ninjas can’t make mistakes. Mistakes were fatal. Medics had to be perfect. So how is Ino suppose to accept that she gave birth to imperfection?
1. Chapter 1

_**Hidden Candles**_

A/N: This story was somewhat derived from my other Naruto story, Himawari, when I was brainstorming. It's funny how I was never really interested in Ino, but ever since I chose to make Himarwari a Team 10 centric story, I've grown fond of her. ;)

Summary: Medical ninjas can't make mistakes. Mistakes were fatal. Medics had to be perfect. So how is Ino suppose to accept that she gave birth to imperfection?

**Chapter 1**

Ino didn't want to know how it happened. Shikamaru of course forbade her to take any missions while she was pregnant. She was fine with that since that meant she could concentrate her energy on her baby and her work at the hospital.

But now, she didn't want to regret that she might have done something wrong. Regretting forced her to admit that she had made mistakes that she could never go back and fix. Medical ninjas weren't allowed to make mistakes. They just couldn't. Mistakes lowered confidence. Without confidence, more mistakes would be made. One thing just fed off the other and kept rolling through an endless cycle. Ino couldn't let that happen. She was required to be perfect.

But in her arms was a flawed baby. What could have gone wrong? The fact that a medical ninja bore a sick baby was one of the biggest ironies in Konoha.

All people could do was pity. Pity that she would have to spend her months – no, years with this small dependent baby. Pity that this baby took away her job as a ninja. Pity that her son could not grow up to be a strong man.

Many in little Ike's generation silently mocked Ino. Hinata's daughter had just started crawling. Yesterday, Tenten's son had ran to his first day of school. And Sakura's son enjoyed his days training with his eager father.

Shikamaru would often tell her that the most important thing that a ninja must protect was the next generation. At this time of need, that was the one thing that she needed to hear the most from him. But even he was saddened by young Ike's presence so he focused his attention on his older son. Ino wished to see Shikamaru's joyful face once again. But every time he looked at Ike, Ino felt that she had failed him. He grew ignorant of Ike, not because he didn't love him but because he loved him so much that he could feel his future pain. She wondered why her body brought a child like this into the world of shinobi. And she couldn't do anything that would help, anything that would heal her precious son. She was powerless.

Ino continued to take care of Ike, wondering what the point was. Every morning, she cursed at the sun because it introduced another day of captivity. But for some reason, she was still attached to this kid. Perhaps it could have been the result of holding him for 9 straight months. That's when it hit her. Ino loved Ike even before he was born. He didn't talk. He didn't walk. He didn't do anything except drain energy from her. And even with that, she still loved him. He was a part of her.

The only thing that was lost when he was born was her hope in his future. Ino hated to admit is but Sakura was the one who rebuked her.

"Naruto was hopeless at first, too," she had giggled.

"Naruto-kun wasn't crippled," Ino had retorted.

Sakura looked out towards the Academy, where Iruka still taught. Her gaze fell on the empty swings. "But he was emotionally crippled," Sakura had reminded her. "And he overcame it. Don't let Ike-kun be emotionally crippled as well."

Ino had rolled her eyes. "It's not like he could overcome his paralysis," she had said in a cynical tone but hearing her voice say that had pieced right through her heart.

Sakura closed her eyes. After trying to remember something, she had said, "Legends aren't born great." She turned to Ino and smiled at her sympathetically. "If a person was born perfect, perfection is the only thing that people expect from him. But if a person was born imperfect but achieves greatness that is when people start talking. That is when legends are made."

But Ino didn't put much faith into Sakura's words of hope immediately. She just assumed that Sakura only said those words to cheer her up. But for the first time in Ino's life, she wished that Sakura would prove her wrong.

* * *

A/N: I don't know how long it will take me to update considering school. And if I do update I can't guarantee that the next chapter will be this long as well. But please review/ criticize even if it's just spelling and grammar errors. Those always bother me. :/


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hidden Candles**_

A/N: Now when I look back to my other stories, my writing genres and styles changed a lot. Many times, I'm amazed how poorly I wrote in my first fanfiction. Then, I started writing pure humour fiction, which I still think is my strong point. I would have never imagined writing something like this. I usually hated depressing stories. :P

**Chapter 2**

As the years went on, Ino tried not to lose faith in Ike. Ike responded well. He didn't seem to be bothered by his disability until he was about seven years old. He went on being his aloof self, whose personality probably came from his father, so Ino tried not to read too much into it.

Once in a while, Naruto's little daughter, Hoshiko, would ask if she could push Ike's wheelchair. Often, she would tell him that she envied him. Her dad would train her day and night until her limbs felt like noodles. He himself would end up sleeping just from watching her train. And he would always wake up on cue every time she stopped. When the two of them returned home, he wouldn't even carry her home since he wanted her to become strong girl. Times like those were when she desperately wanted a wheelchair like Ike's.

Hearing all of this, Ike thought that being a ninja was all work. He thought that his mom would be thanking him for allowing her to retire from ninja missions. Ike personally didn't like work especially since Ino would force him to study non-stop. She would tell him, "You can't beat others with your physical condition but you can beat them with your brain." Whoever told her that Ike ever wanted to beat anyone?

Then, one day, Hoshiko's older brother asked if Ike wanted to watch him train, teasing that he could be his cheerleader. Of course Ike ignored his comment and went with him anyway. (It was the alternative to studying all day with his mom).

After watching Naruto's older son train, he couldn't have been more amazed. He threw with kunais with precision, all going in the right direction. Ike was used to seeing little boys and girls throwing tennis balls in random directions without any accuracy at all. He was even more baffled when he watched the ninja walk up a tree. Ike couldn't even walk and this guy was defying gravity with ease. And his sempai also created a clone of himself and scared Ike from behind.

Ike had never been exposed to a ninja's capabilities. He thought that it was all magic, and for a moment, wondered if there was some kind of trick behind all of this, as if the teen was just teasing him as usual. Ike only thought of physical exercise whenever Hoshiko mentioned training. Taijutsu, Ike tried to remember what it was called. And he read about ninjutsu and genjutsu but he never believed it. Ike just thought jutsus were myths, something out of a storybook. Then, he wondered why no one had shown him this part of the world that he lived in.

That day, Ike went home, telling his mother everything he saw.

"I want to do stuff like that too Mom!"

Ino was bewildered. She knew this day would come. And yet she still tried to hold it off as long as possible. But this was the day. She knew this day would make or break her beloved son. Ino wasn't sure what she should say. But looking at his anticipating face, she knew she had to say something.

Ino was the kind of person who thought things through. This situation especially troubled her. She replayed in her mind what this day would be like. She thought about what she might say, how she would explain it to him. She thought about when the right time to explain it. No. There was no right time. And if there was a right time, it especially wasn't today.

It's the job of a parent to fill their children with hope, to teach them that the future is theirs. On the other hand, a parent would suffer at all costs to protect her children, protect them from othe pains of the world. There were the pains of disappointment, of failure. And there were the pains of worthlessness and self-pity. Which of these were worse? Ino needed to know the answer.

If she gave him hope, he had a lot more to risk. The higher the expectation, the greater the potential disappointment. Shikamaru always lived by this. He wouldn't have high expectations for anything just so he could subdue the pain of disappointment even just a little.

Memories of Ike flooded through her mind. Memories of pain, sadness, and pity received from other people. She couldn't let Ike share these memories. It was too much for a seven-year-old.

But, she noticed that Ike's smile disappeared. "Never mind, Mom. I feel tired now. Can you put me to my bed?"

Ino, confused at his sudden request, quietly nodded. Those words released the tension in her chest and allowed her to breathe. She hoped that Ike didn't notice her distress. She wanted to keep those feelings of hopelessness buried deep inside her heart.

But Ike felt every emotion.

* * *

A/N: Funny how my chapters are now shorter. My OHSHC stories had about over 2000 words per chapter. Himawari has around 1500 per chapter. These chapters don't even reach 1000. Lol. Please review/ correct /criticise.


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